Harry looked at the card in his hand. It showed a man with half-moon spectacles, a crooked nose, and long silver hair and a flowing beard.
Albus Dumbledore.
He turned the card over. The back listed Dumbledore’s accomplishments, including his defeat of Grindelwald, his discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood, and his work in alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel.
"Our headmaster really is an extraordinary man," Vade remarked as he took an identical Dumbledore card from his own box. "There probably isn’t anyone in the wizarding world who hasn’t heard of him."
Harry turned his card back over, only to find that Dumbledore’s portrait had vanished.
"He’s gone."
"You can’t expect him to stay inside the card all day."
"Ahem. Harry, there’s something you need to understand," Vade reminded him. "The wizarding world is different from the Muggle world. Whenever you encounter something you can’t explain, magic is usually the answer."
Crunch. Crunch.
The large gray rat lay across Ron’s lap, half its body buried inside a box of sweets as it continued eating.
"This is Scabbers. Pathetic, isn’t he?"
"He seems all right."
"Fred taught me a spell that’s supposed to turn him yellow. Want to see it?"
"Sure," Harry replied eagerly.
Ron took out his wand and cleared his throat.
"Wait. How long has that wand been in use?" Vade asked, noticing the silvery core faintly visible through the damaged wood. His face twitched.
The chances of successfully casting a spell with a wand in that condition could not be particularly high.
A trace of embarrassment crossed Ron’s face.
"It used to belong to my brother Charlie. The unicorn hair is almost sticking out, but..."
Before he could finish, the compartment door slid open again.
A girl with thick brown hair, already dressed in her Hogwarts robes, looked around the compartment before asking helplessly, "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville’s lost his."
"We haven’t," Vade replied quickly, hoping to send her on her way.
At this rate, the compartment would soon be completely packed.
However, the girl noticed the wand in Ron’s hand and immediately became interested.
"Are you about to perform magic? Let’s see it, then."
Ron cleared his throat again and waved his wand solemnly.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."
He pointed the wand at Scabbers.
Apart from a few wisps of gray smoke, nothing happened.
"If I had to guess, I’d say that was your first time trying that spell," Vade said with amusement.
Anyone who had tested it even once would never have performed it in front of other people.
"Are you sure that’s even a real spell?" the girl asked. "It doesn’t seem very good, does it?
I’ve tried a few simple spells myself, and they all worked."
As though determined to prove it, she stepped into the compartment, drew her wand, and pointed it at Harry’s glasses.
"For example, Oculus Reparo."
The white tape wrapped around the bridge of Harry’s glasses vanished, revealing the undamaged metal beneath.
Harry removed his glasses and stared at them in disbelief.
"That’s better, isn’t it?"
As she spoke, the girl noticed the scar on his forehead.
"Goodness, you’re Harry Potter.
I’m Hermione Granger. Who are you?"
"I’m Ron. Ron Weasley."
"Vade Moria," Vade said.
He had to admit that he was beginning to give up.
On his very first day, he had somehow ended up sharing a compartment with all three of them.
He could not decide whether that made him extraordinarily lucky or horribly unfortunate.
"Pleasure to meet you. Do you know which House you want to be sorted into?"
"I’d like to join Hufflepuff," Vade answered immediately.
"Why would you want to go to Hufflepuff?"
"Hufflepuff is the best House. It has a welcoming atmosphere, a comfortable common room, and a Head of House who is patient and understanding with the students."
"But everyone says Gryffindor is the best. Dumbledore was in Gryffindor."
"Every House has produced outstanding witches and wizards. Newt Scamander was a Hufflepuff," Vade countered. "Besides, the people you asked were probably Gryffindors. Had you asked Hufflepuffs, I guarantee they would have said Hufflepuff was the best House."
He paused before adding, "And here’s a word of advice.
Gryffindor is easily the most exhausting House to belong to."
"Why do you say that?" Hermione asked with a frown.
"Gryffindor students break more school rules than anyone else. You look like someone who takes her studies seriously, so Ravenclaw would probably suit you better.
Professor Flitwick is Head of Ravenclaw House. A talented student would have every opportunity to excel there."
Hermione considered his words.
"I’m going to help Neville look for his toad. You should all put on your robes. We’ll be arriving soon."
She turned to leave, but when she reached the doorway, she glanced back at Ron.
"You’ve got dirt on your nose, by the way. Right there."
Ron rubbed his nose and found a black smudge on his finger.
"Why didn’t any of you tell me?"
"Sorry. I thought it was a birthmark."
"So did I."
Ron rolled his eyes, found a clean handkerchief in his trunk, and wiped his face.
"Don’t you think she’s a bit full of herself?"
Harry remained silent, clearly sharing the same opinion.
"She has reason to be confident, doesn’t she?" Vade said calmly.
He pointed at Scabbers, who had not changed in the slightest.
"That was your spell."
Then he pointed at Harry’s repaired glasses.
"And that was hers. The difference is obvious."
Was it unreasonable for an excellent student to feel proud in front of a poor one?
Not particularly.
She had earned the right.
"That wasn’t my fault. Fred gave me a fake spell," Ron insisted, trying to salvage some dignity. "Anyway, you seem to know a lot about Hogwarts."
"I spent more than a month staying at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley. Plenty of witches and wizards pass through there, and quite a few of them graduated from Hogwarts."
"That explains it," Harry said with sudden understanding. "I wish I’d stayed in Diagon Alley too. You can’t imagine how awful my aunt and uncle are."
"Either way, telling her to consider Ravenclaw was the right idea," Ron said. "I certainly don’t want to end up in the same House as her."
"Which House do you want, Ron?" Harry asked curiously.
"Probably Gryffindor," Ron replied, sounding less than pleased. "My dad, my mum, and all five of my brothers were Gryffindors.
There’s nothing wrong with Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, but who knows what my family would think?
And if I ended up in Slytherin, Mum would probably break both my legs."
"You seem to have a serious prejudice against Slytherin," Vade said. "From what I’ve heard, Slytherin only accepts students with considerable talent."
"Don’t you know? That was the House where V-V..." Ron hesitated nervously, then quickly corrected himself. "That was You-Know-Who’s House."
"Hogwarts was also You-Know-Who’s school, yet we’re still going there."
"That’s different, isn’t it?"
Harry nodded in agreement.
"Hagrid said that loads of dark wizards came from Slytherin. He said it would be better to end up in Hufflepuff than Slytherin."
"Hm?"
Vade’s expression immediately darkened.
What was that supposed to mean?
Was there something wrong with Hufflepuff?
He would not tolerate anyone insulting the House he had set his heart on.
(To be continued.)
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